Page 38 of The Caged Girl

Jamie grabbed me by the neck and pushed me against the wall. “Do you know what these images are, you stupid girl?”

Gasping, I peeled her hand off me. Turning, I looked at the colored sorority or graduation-like images. Each individual frame held a photo of a young woman. “No.” I shook my head.

“Have you ever wondered why these images aren’t a group photo or in one of those frames that can hold countless photos?”

Nodding, I brushed my fingers against my neck.

“It’s so every single time one of the girls is killed, they get moved to the black-and-white hallway. The goal for us girls here is to stay in this hallway as long as we possibly can. Demi, you may think you’re the favorite, but you’re not. You are just one of us.” Jamie tugged my hand and led me down the hallway.

“Here.” I squinted at the photo. It was me. I thought these would be used for an ID badge, not for this.

“Wait…” I took a step back and froze. There were hundreds of missing spots in between frames.

“I just thought they put the photos in some sort of way…”

Jamie began walking away, so I followed her. “If one of us doves cause any kind of trouble, we risk being put in a cage and going through treatment.”

“Treatment?” I questioned as the pit in my stomach grew larger.

“Total darkness to deprive our senses before we become a subservient nightingale. That’s actually a blessing, considering some of the defiant girls…well, they went straight to the fridge.”

I didn’t know what any of this meant beyond the cages and darkness I had witnessed first-hand. “The fridge?”

“You don’t want to know, Demi. Promise me you’ll just stop. You’re going to get yourself killed, and one of us will get dragged down with you, too. Alister Ivory is si?—”

“Alister Ivory is what?” A voice behind us was low and husky, but it seemed to shake the floor beneath our feet.

Turning slowly, Jamie and I both took a step backward.

“Alister Ivory is what?” There he was in his black suit, his eyes darkening as he folded his hands behind his back and took a step forward.

“On your knees,” Alister boomed as Jamie’s body began to shake. She dropped to her knees, and then he cut his eyes to me.

His jaw ticked as I stood there, my body growing cold. “On your knees.”

Jamie dropped her head down and stammered, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Ivory. I’m so sorry, sir.”

“Demi!” he hissed at me, only raising his voice slightly but making more of an impact as if someone had yelled at me.

I dropped to my knees. We were off in the employee-only side of the resort, unfortunately. Had we been on the side closer to our guests, there is no way he’d have risked anyone seeing this.

“Now, my precious little obedient dove, tell me what you were going to say…” Alister lifted his hand, revealing a small shiny knife with a carved handle.

“Sir, I was…” Jamie was sobbing as she choked on her own spit. “Sick. Alister Ivory is sick,” she said quietly.

Alister tossed his head back and laughed. My chest was rising and falling rapidly as I looked at Jamie, who kept her head down.

Alister tipped her head up with the knife and looked at her. “You were always supposed to be a nightingale, you know that?” He smiled. With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and took out a small clear bag. “Demi, my beautiful raven, open this for me.”

My fingers shook as I took the bag from him and opened it.

Leaning in, Alister brushed his index finger and thumb together, then whispered, “Close your eyes, little dove.” He tucked the knife away and pulled out a small pair of tweezers.

Jamie’s bottom lip quivered as tears rolled down her face rapidly. “Please don’t do it.”

“Mr. Ivory,” I interjected. Alister didn’t look at me; instead, he began plucking her eyelashes out.

Jamie screeched from the pain. “Demi, darling, please shut her up or I will.”

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